Seoul's Hello Kitty Cafe

Who would have thought that I would post something about Hello Kitty? I wasn't planning about it, although my wife added Seoul's Hello Kitty Cafe to our itinerary, so I just thought we'll just look at the place and have some coffee like in any other coffee shop. Besides, it was just near Trick Eye Museum, so I assumed it wouldn't take much of our time.

I was wrong. The shop, even though it's quite small, was very interesting. I've never been to any Hello Kitty establishment, even Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo, so I couldn't compare, but I liked the concept. As I mentioned, it's just near the Trick Eye Museum, so if anyone would like to get there, just follow the directions from my previous post, but instead of turning right after two blocks, make it three. From that road, keep an eye on your left, and you can see the shop along the second street.

We ordered a Hello Kitty mini cake, a Boston Hotdog, Cafe Mocha and Iced Lemon Aide, all for about KRW 20,000. I forgot the exact amount, what I can remember is that the cake was KRW 10,000.

Hello Kitty was everywhere -  the chair I was sitting on, the cup I was drinking from, the table, walls, even the washroom! And that includes the men's washroom! It was weird taking pictures of the whole place, but I just thought that I was a tourist, the staff and other customers didn't know me, so might as well carry on with what I was doing. The cafe wasn't exactly how you would think about a tourist spot, but it was really very interesting.

Hello Kitty Cafe official website

Trick Eye Museum

Seoul's Trick Eye Museum, or Trick Art Museum, is actually just a part of Santorini Seoul. There were some other art galleries, but we weren't interested in them. Admission to the museum is KRW 13,000. To get there, we got out of the subway via Exit 9 of Hongik University station of Line 2, walked straight until the major road intersection and turned left there. After two blocks, we turned right and found it after another block.

As the name suggests, the museum is for optical illusions that allow visitors to be part of the art gallery. Some looked real, while some required tough poses. Guides/sample pictures were posted beside or near the paintings, so all you have to do is find the best angle and internalize to feel like you're part of the painting. There were also N-in-1 artworks. Anyway, here are some of our pictures.

"Spot the difference"? View from the left and right side of the same painting.

3-in-1 painting

Another 2-in-1 picture

Trick Eye Museum's official site